Respected
Prime Minister, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Chief Ministers
and Members of the National Development Council.

When
we received the approach paper of the 10th Five Year Plan we had sent
certain comments to the Planning Commission, from the point of view of
A and N Islands. These were :

Further delegation
of financial powers needs to be made in order not to delay important
schemes/projects of the U.T. Administration while seeking approvals
and sanctions from the Govt. of India.

Many of the Centrally
sponsored schemes do not suit the far flung territories like the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands due to geographical constraints, low population,
less agriculture activity, etc. Such territories may be allowed to propose
changes in the schemes/patterns of the system to suit their peculiar
needs.

Some financial
flexibility needs to be given to such areas possibly on the lines of
the scheme "Untied Funds" that prevails in the North-Eastern
States.

The
theme of these comments has been further amplified in my subsequent remarks.

The
9th Plan has been a period of significant achievements in the field of
infrastructure specially construction of power plants, expansion of Runway,
ordering/acquisition of new Ships and completion of the Andaman Trunk
Road (ATR). Greater coverage has been achieved in the fields of Education,
Health services as well as Water supply. Towards the end of the Plan,
we are now in the process of activating the Panchayat Raj Institutions,
like the Zilla Parishad etc., through making effective the delegation
of powers already made and through larger allocation of funds.

The
people of A and N Islands are now fully exposed to the wider economic
and social forces in the mainland and further afield and expect standards
of living on par with those obtaining in the mainland, supplemented by
extra facilities needed to cope with the inaccessibility and isolation
of the islands. The A and N Islands can no longer be viewed as far flung
and vulnerable outposts to be protected through the transfer of a settler
population and stationing of security forces, but as a well settled chain
of islands with tremendous potential for development of Tourism and Fisheries
through opening up to the rest of the world. Our major asset in this opening
up is to be our expanded runway allowing quick air connections to the
mainland, to the

South
East Asia and beyond. This airport needs to be declared an International
Airport in the immediate future.

We
would like the Govt. of India to recognize the Tourism asset that this
chain of Islands represents and focus on opening it though a Tourism Task
Force, directly under the highest supervision. These islands must receive
the best policy inputs with the assistance of the Govt. of India, greater
funding for tourism, faster environmental clearances and, perhaps, most
importantly a sustained level of publicity worldwide to enable us to fully
explore its potential. To allow tourism to remain fettered by environmental
and security constraints of the most restrictive kind would be depriving
these Islands of an economic future and a waste of the heavy investments
being made in infrastructure.

While
the focus in the 9th Plan was on basic infrastructure, our focus of the
10th Plan will be in three important areas :

To spend more money
on provision of basic amenities and on upgradation of Rural infrastructure
enhancing the availability of rural and rural water supply,

In line with national
priorities Self Help Groups will be primarily used for income generation
and asset creation, and

Tacking the problem
of unemployment through greater reliance on the private sector in creating
job opportunities in the Tourism, Fisheries and IT sectors, to exemplify.

However,
private sector initiative in these areas will not be forthcoming in if
the supporting infrastructure is not in place. Thus, improvements in the
shipping sector, specially inter-island travel for local passengers and
tourists, and widening and improvement of the ATR are likely to remain
major necessities. We will need to upgrade our port facilities as well,
specially in outlying islands of tourist interest. Faster movements between
islands and better ports and harbours are a prerequisite for the development
of our Tourist potential. It is often urged that better facilities should
not be made available in the Andaman islands as this will only attract
a larger influx from the mainland which will end up in encroachments on
forest land. While the pull factor of such facilities is undeniable what
the Administration requires is a strengthened set of powers to deal with
the issue : both to control influx as well as to control encroachments
in forests areas. Here I would humbly suggest that the IDA be made far
more active and purposeful than has been the experience of the last decade
or so, and if legal powers need to be conferred on the local administration
to curb influx and encroachments this should be recommended.

In
the Fisheries sector, we need to attract investment from the mainland
both in fishing as well as in setting-up processing units. In this regard
licensing powers have just recently been liberalized. Nevertheless, such
investment will not be forthcoming in good measure without enhancement
of other infrastructure like electricity, water, civic facilities, shipping,
roads etc. While some of the infrastructure is already in place substantial
expansion is still needed. In the IT sector, for which the Island offers
a conducive environment, encouraging private initiative requires enhanced
Satellite connectivity or even connection with the high bandwidth undersea
cable passing through the area. The feasibility of either proposition
needs to be assessed at an early date and we would urge greater attention
to such needs of these islands.

The
fact that the per capita availability of funds is higher for the Islands
than in the mainland, need not make us hesitate to invest more in order
to exploit its tourism, fisheries and other potential. If nature has been
kind to these islands in terms of beauty and climate we need not hesitate
to invest further in their development. The nation has something to gain
by developing these Islands for which we should always be ready to pay
the price.

I
would like to point out at this stage that the United Nations Convention
on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS) enjoins all coastal states to promote the
objective of optimum utilization of the living resources in the EEZ and
to determine its capacity to harvest the living resources therein. The
EEZ around the A and N Islands is highly underutilized, except for the
illegal exploitation by poachers from other countries. The entire allowable
catch needs to be used by India for which it needs to invest in fisheries
in these Islands. This requires clear long term policies especially in
the area of deep sea fishing, which have been delayed. It would be unfortunate
if the allowable catch becomes a surplus under the UNCLOS which others
may wish to have access to in terms of its provisions. Thus, the A and
N Islands needs that its Draft Marine Fisheries

Regulation
presently before the Government be immediately approved and the Govt.
of India brings out a deep sea fishing policy at the earliest to give
an impetus to the exploitation of the Andamans EEZ.

Our
existing population requires better health care, including introduction
of widespread and easily available telemedicine facilities which are particularly
suitable for these isolated Islands as a cost saving device. The population
also requires access to better educational facilities in terms of more
and better teachers and better infrastructure to allow them to live a
productive life and contribute to the development of the islands.

While
we are presently engaged in evolving policy directions for different sectors
of our own 10th Plan, I wish to bring to your notice that the achievement
of some of the proposals highlighted above is not possible without a substantial
increase in the delegation of financial powers. While the powers have
been increased to some extent in 1998, which led to easier ordering of
a number of vessels in 1999 the delays yet inherent in obtaining sanctions
from different Ministries make it necessary to increase these powers.
A detailed and purposive review is called for with a sincere effort to
enhance the powers available to us if the Islands are to develop faster.
Further, in keeping with a trend towards decentralization incorporated
in the approach to the 10th Five Year Plan, the outlying territories need
to be allowed to suggest patterns of assistance of Centrally sponsored
Schemes that suits their local conditions. In the case of A and N Islands,
the IDA can function as a policy body looking at such issues and recommending
patterns suited to local conditions. Another need of outlying areas without
a significant resource base, is to have some portion of their plan funds
made available to them as Untied funds to be deployed as required by local
needs, subject to the usual delegation of powers. Such a facility is available
in the Northeastern states but is yet to be advanced to the Union Territories
and would go a long way in meeting changing local situations as well as
offer flexibility of response.

As
we shift our focus to increase our reliance upon the service sector, we
need to consider how long to continue with the Mainland-island and Inter-island
transport subsidy which, at present, supports the existing, limited industry
in these Islands. An estimate shows a loss of 1200 jobs directly if all
subsidies are withdrawn completely and of 20000 jobs indirectly. Do we
need to make the transition gentler, or to bring the subsidies to an abrupt
end ? This question is, perhaps, best answered by those presently studying
the issue.

I
would once again urge full support to our endeavour to develop these Islands
even though some of our plans may seem ambitious.

Once
again, I thank the Prime Minister and the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission
for having given me this opportunity to place our views before this august
National Forum.